You like me? You like me enough not to judge me, right? I mean I like to think of us all as friends here. So when I confess something to you, you won’t point and laugh….I hope…or maybe you will and I can’t say I’d blame you because, let’s be honest kids, I would probably point and laugh too.

The other night I made risotto. Crab risotto. I love risotto so throwing in a little crab sounded like a good idea to me. I’ve made risotto a few times so I’m sort of familiar with how it tastes. I’m also familiar with crab and love how it tastes. The two just seemed like a perfect match.
They seemed like a good match…that was until I tasted it…all mixed in together.

Oh. My. God.

It was the crabbiest of crabby crab I’d ever tasted! Nothing like I had dreamed or hoped. It was stinky and fishy and just flat out gross. And my night was ruined. As I made my ever favorite risotto it tasted perfect. It was just the way I liked it. All I could do was try to make the risotto cook faster so I could dive head first into the bowl. Then, I made that fatal mistake. I mixed in the crab. What was I thinking?? Why would I screw with my favorite dish? Weren’t chicken, spinach, peas, and parmesan good enough? Why did I have to get all stupid and think I could up the ante with crab? I’m clearly not very bright. So from now on, it’s good old fashioned risotto. The way I like it. Without crab.

And for those of you still reading and still willing to test out a risotto recipe, I present to you one of my favorites:
From Ellie Krieger:

To make-
Bring the chicken broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until soft, for about 3-5 minutes. Add the rice and cook. STIR CONSTANTLY for about 1 minute. No really, you are going to have to stir your brains out. Add wine and simmer, stirring, stirring, stirring, until absorbed, about 1 minute. Add 3/4 cup of the hot broth, salt, and a few grinds of pepper, and simmer. Did I mention you need to be stirring…CONSTANTLY…until broth is absorbed. Continue simmering and adding hot broth, about 3/4 cup at a time, STIRRING CONSTANTLY, until broth is absorbed before adding your next 3/4 cup of broth…do this until rice is almost tender and creamy looking…about 18 minutes.

Add the spinach and peas and cook until the spinach has wilted. Add the diced chicken and cook until hot. Stir in the parmesan and more broth if the risotto seems a little thick.

why thank you marilyn! i do love those plates too. the blues and browns always make me happy.
and yeah, at least i know now to steer clear of crab risotto. i’ll just have to go somewhere that makes crabcakes instead.